Yes, certainly there can be ads and revenue derived from partners (i.e. YouTube videos, etc). The consensus is that that revenue stream is both fickle and shrinking. I don’t think it makes sense to rely on it, but it can be a nice way to bring in some extra income.

I also think there’s an opportunity for “corporate sponsorship” which could allow a company to achieve a ubiquitous presence with readers, and introduce a recurring revenue stream decoupled from ad metrics.